Customer Reviews

Tongue In Chic

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I enjoyed Tongue in Chic more than Dodd's last several contemporary books but you have to go into it ready to have fun. If you're looking for a dark suspense type book. This one isn't for you.

If you like a tough, driven, slightly brooding hero with hidden depths of gold and a spunky, hard-to-resist heroine who brings light and fun to his (and everyone else's) life - then this book has what you want!

It is well written and both main characters are engaging and enjoyable in their own way. The conclusion where all the different threads of the story come together at the end of the book is a little fast but I highly recommend this book!

Fans of Lori Foster will enjoy this book!

This is a classic opposites-attract story in which Meadow Szarvas, a casual, down-to-earth artist falls for Devlin Fitzwilliam, a wealthy self-made CEO. Most of the story takes place at a mansion in Amelia Shores that has been newly converted into a hotel, owned by Devlin, natch.

I have some small and large problems with Tongue In Chic. First the small problems: What is with the lame play-on-words title that in no way relates to the story and doesn't make sense on its own? And who is the elegantly dressed woman on the cover? Meadow doesn't wear an evening gown in even a single scene. Between the title and the cover, it seems as if the publisher is attempting to mislead readers in some way, and I have no idea why.

Anyway, my real problems with Tongue In Chic concern the contents of the book. The writing style is choppy and lacks transitions. The story does not flow smoothly from scene to scene. For example, in the first scene, Devlin is described as "Mr. Arrogant" and as a "stern-faced, hawk-nosed interrogator." One page later, he is gazing soulfully into Meadow's eyes and calling her his "darling" and his "wife". When I re-read pages to find what I missed, I discovered that I didn't miss anything - the transitions simply weren't there. Dodd's writing technique in this contemporary romance is a departure from her writing in her historical romances (of which I am a fan). Apparently, I will have to stick with her historical romances.

My other main problem with the book is that so much of it required a suspension of disbelief. I should have expected some unbelievable aspects when the premise of the book involves a heroine who claims to have amnesia and a hero who claims that she is his wife. I think that Dodd is a skillful enough writer to make the premise more believable, but here again she cut corners so that it just didn't work.

On the whole, it's a thumbs down. Or should I say tongues down?

I liked this story; it was a light, quick, fun read. But after I finished it I did give it a little more thought and realized that my overall impression of it was disappointment. Not in the characters themselves or in the plot, but with the undeveloped potential involving the secondary characters and their subplots that was allowed to languish. The behavioral inconsistencies of the main characters caused me to raise an eyebrow every now and then, but didn't bother me as much as finishing the book and wishing the author had taken the time to flesh out a lot of other interesting bits.

I don't know, perhaps it was due to contractual limits on the page number, but there was a lot in this book that could have been better developed that, I think, would have really made this a stand-out romance.

Ms. Dodd created a number of interesting secondary characters, but didn't take them that extra step. The voice of the book was basically that of either Meadow or Devlin, yet I would have really loved to have read more scenes from the secondary characters' points of view, more scenes rounding them out as characters in their own right because they seemed to be more than just stereotypes. There were more subplots than are usually found in a standard romance: Meadow's mother's battle with cancer, the embittered life of Bradley Benjamin, the wasted life of Four Benjamin, Grace Fitzwilliam's celebrity status and emotional distance, the business that Meadow apparently left to run itself, and Judith's insane desire for recognition. I think it would have really kicked this book up out of the ordinary if the story had more of a touch of the epic about it. The material was there to use, it just wasn't developed.

I don't usually mentally re-write books after I read them, but this was one that I did.

I LOVED this book!!!! I liked her previous contemporary books, but they didn't inspire me to write a review. This is really very good! Enjoy!!

So I compared book one in this barely connected duo to "literary tiramisu". Too (maybe) overwork the food metaphor this novel is like a silly, crunchy first course like coconut shrimp. Kinda makes you smile, completely enjoyable, definitely too light for the whole meal but too much fun to resist on special occasions. The most fun about the novel is the sense of play--right from the beginning the bored, overworked and dour male lead finds a pretty young woman fallen on his floor and rather than send her on her way to the police--maybe out of boredom or attraction--he plays along with her fantastical story. He is helped to discover his more lighthearted, romantic self and our female lead a more serious, maybe even mature side. Plus the secondary characters are a delight and I even learned more about oil paint vs. water paint and glass blowing as an art form. No way to go wrong here--just remember it's only a snack!

Oh, the lost potential. Meadow Szarvas is looking for a particular painting, and while attempting to find and steal it, is caught by the house's owner, Devlin Fitzwilliam. She immediately claims to have no idea how she ended up there because, of course, she must have amnesia. In return, Devlin claims that she is his wife, leaving two lies that neither can reject without exposing his or her own.

The overall problem with this book is inconsistency. It tries to do too much and does none of them well. For instance, here's a list of major content: a granddaughter's revenge for her grandmother, an illegitimate son's battle for dominance and respect, a daughter's quest to earn money for her dying mother, a hunt for not just a missing painting, but one reportedly *never* even done, an evil crime lord out to kill any involved with said nonexistent painting, embezzlement, the grand opening of a hotel, small town intrigues, false adultery, manipulating in-laws, faked deaths, and glass-blowing. Of course, let's not forget the relationship between the main characters.

There was a plot somewhere, but it ran away screaming.

A crowded book can be forgiven, but it doesn't do any single thing correctly, most of all the characters. Meadow comes off as apparently very confident and clever... except her actions prove her to be an idiot. Her entrance into the book screams it - she tries to break into the mansion not having confirmed the painting's location? No wonder she gets caught. Additionally, she she never really asks Devlin for proof that they're married (which of course he can't give). Instead, he spins her erotic stories about a wedding in Majorca, which they use an excuse to paw each other. She isn't suspicious that he claims she's his wife? She should be, but since they're doing everything but home base within twenty-four hours, it doesn't seem to have inhibited her.

Just to be fair, he's lacking in brainpower, too. At one point he agonizes over why Meadow hasn't trusted him with her real name ... even though he's still lying to her about her being his wife. He takes a petulant You-Won't-So-I-Won't attitude that never disappears. No matter how endearingly he takes her to bed, he's as cliched as his name is for romance novel heroes (no more Devlins!).

Oh, and the other characters. I wanted to shoot Meadow's grandmother, except she was already dead. And why exactly is Meadow trying to steal a painting to fund the cancer treatments for her dying mother? According to Meadow, her grandmother was a famous and brilliant painter, her father is an internationally respected glass artist, her mother is a genius painter, and Meadow herself is as gifted as her father. Why don't they have money? (Incidentally, her mother's cancer treatment is resolved entirely separate from money, defeating Meadow's motives entirely.)

I truly like Christina Dodd. Her misses are usually better than the average romance novel, and when she hits it right, her books are clever and romantic. But for the love of mercy, skip this book. Its inconsistency with not only plot, but tone, development, and logic, come together in an unholy union that just doesn't make sense, not matter how many times you throw it against the wall.

Tongue In Chic by Christina Dodd is modern romance mystery. Meadow breaks into her grandfather's home looking for painting that her grandmother left behind. She get caught by the new owner of the mansion - ex-football player and billionaire Devlin. Meadow tells Devlin that she has amensia and he tells her that she is his long lost wife. A very good book - I had wonderful Saturday with this novel. Also check out the first book in the series TROUBLE IN HIGH HEELS.

I am a huge Christina Dodd fan. I loved this book!!! Because of this book, my day at work was not very productive. I could not put it down!!
Like her last 3 series, her Fortune Hunter series is very good. If you are new to the author prepare to be hooked. I can't to wait to start her new Darkness Chosen series.

I thoroughly enjoy all of Ms Dodd's books whether Suspense, Historical or Contemporary or even mixed together.

It was good to see someone else notice that this was part of continuing series regarding the many [...] sons of Nathan Manly (Trouble in High Heels}. Did anyone notice that the Security Company was owned by Gabriel Prescott? He is one of the Texas Prescott family series who were separated as children (Just the Way You Are, etal.) Are we going to get more Gabriel Prescott next or is it going to be Carrick Manly (the only legitimate son of Nathan Manly)? And HEY, what about Sam the FBI man??

It is fun tracing some of the secondary characters back to other series, but I really would like to see some have their own books. Miss Dodd snuck in Roberto (another one of the Manly boys) at the end, but I'd really like to know more about the brothers all getting together. Don't you think Grace Fitzwilliam is due for some romance? And, yes, we definitely need to see more of Meadow's Uncle Four.

I just finished this book over the weekend, and enjoyed it very much. The main characters were very likeable, with their own understandable flaws, and the writing was intelligent, humorous, and suspenseful in the appropriate places. The only reasons I didn't give 5 stars for the book are that some of the characters' actions and motivations didn't completely mesh with their personalities up to that point in the book (but I understand that sometimes you need certain things to happen or not happen in order to keep the plot moving where you want it to), and because the book title does not seem to fit at all with the plot or characters of the book. That said, this was a very enjoyable read and I would recommend it, and other Christina Dodd books, to any romance reader.